Gujarat is not just India’s most progressive and industrialized state, it is one of the most urbanized too.

The Gujarat Urban Mission aims to provide an enhanced quality of urban life and is essentially a movement that involves people’s participation to create clean, green and well managed cities as well as communities that are self sufficient and self reliant.

Gujarat is the first state in the country to have made e-Governance functional in all its municipalities and municipal corporations and also the first state to have framed a comprehensive urban health policy. Financial reforms that have been implemented include accrual based double entry accounting systems and area based property tax calculations.

To improve the quality of life in urban areas, the year 2005 was declared as the year of Urban Development. This year witnessed conception and rapid implementation of several initiatives; door-to door solid waste collection; creation of Gaurav Paths (roads of pride) and Vikas Paths (roads of development); greening of cities through social afforestation, removal of encroachments; promoting CNG vehicles to reduce pollution; strengthening of water distribution systems; planned housing for the urban poor – all these initiatives are enabling the cities of Gujarat to evolve into global cities. The malls and multiplexes that have come up in recent years have changed the face of the cities of Gujarat.

Apart from this, the Government has set aside a fund of Rs. 500 crores as seed money to raise funds from financial institutions as well as through public participation to upgrade urban amenities and services such as cleanliness, sanitation, healthcare, primary education, construction of roads and flyovers, street lights, gardens and parks, sports complexes etc.

Ahmedabad is now a mega city and several world-class projects have been put on the fast track including the Sabarmati Riverfront Development and Bus Rapid Transit System.

A befitting response to the state initiatives has been given by the corporate world by signing MOUs worth Rs. 2.05 lac crores in urban infrastructure projects - ranging from hotels to hospitals.

To strengthen amenities in the entire state and to bring the quality of life in rural areas at par with that in the cities, the year 2007 was celebrated as “Nirmal Gujarat” – an ongoing initiative for a cleaner and greener Gujarat.